It’s tough to carve out an individual identity in a genre as saturated as death metal, with many bands finding outside influence from other genres or sounds. Australian outfit Mental Cavity found their secret sauce by incorporating punk and crust sensibilities into their rotten death metal core.
Just listen to “The Portal,” the latest song from the band’s upcoming Mass Rebel Infest album. The song begins with a crawling introductory riff that would make Autopsy jealous before slipping into a faster pace driven by a punk beat. It’s a simple-but-effective method; by the time the last note fades out, Mental Cavity have made their sound and intentions known.
“The intro to this song is one of my favorites on the record,” explains guitarist and vocalist Aaron Osborne. “Particularly how it moves quickly into a more up-paced groove section. This song is loosely based on the short-story ‘The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate’ by Ted Chiang, sci-fi/fantasy stuff that I love, basically about people being greedy bastards and it coming back to bite them in the ass. Love nerding out on sci-fi shit!”
Mental Cavity are set to release Mass Rebel Infest on June 25 via Creator-Destructor, but pre-orders are live now.
